NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.) less

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable ... more

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.) less

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can ... more

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this... Photo-5454024.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 3 of 14

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.) less

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can ... more

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this... Photo-5454025.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 4 of 14

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013. This view is a close-up simulation.

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013. This view is a close-up simulation.

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean... Photo-5454026.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 5 of 14

Taboola Gallery Frame Item-85307.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 6 of 14

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. It is only one footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself).
At each footprint, images were taken in different spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This is the only wide-angle footprint that has the Earth-moon system in it. The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F ring are overexposed.
The "breaks" in the brightness of Saturn's limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn, preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (The two are clearly seen as separate objects in the accompanying narrow angle frame: PIA14949.) The other bright dots nearby are stars. This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. less

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon ... more

Photo: NASA

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare... Photo-5454027.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 7 of 14

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013. In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System. less

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013. In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our ... more

Photo: NASA

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's... Photo-5454028.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 8 of 14

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side. An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System. less

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our ... more

Photo: NASA

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's... Photo-5454030.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 9 of 14

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20, 2013. The camera was pointing toward EARTH at approximately 898,410,414 miles (1,445,851,410 kilometers) away, and the image was taken using the BL1 and CL2 filters. less

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20, 2013. The camera was pointing toward EARTH at approximately 898,410,414 miles (1,445,851,410 kilometers) away, and the image was taken using ... more

Photo: NASA

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July... Photo-5454031.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 10 of 14

Taboola Gallery Frame Item-85307.73931 - San Antonio Express-News

Image 11 of 14

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system. Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times. Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used to process this color composite. less

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, ... more

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system. less

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle ... more

Prometheus is caught in the act of creating gores and streamers in the F ring. Scientists believe that Prometheus and its partner-moon Pandora are responsible for much of the structure in the F ring.
The orbit of Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) regularly brings it into the F ring. When this happens, it creates gores, or channels, in the ring where it entered. Prometheus then draws ring material with it as it exits the ring, leaving streamers in its wake.

Prometheus is caught in the act of creating gores and streamers in the F ring. Scientists believe that Prometheus and its partner-moon Pandora are responsible for much of the structure in the F ring. The orbit